4, [Victory, (胜利)]


. . .


Four days after the medic damned me with her diagnostics, I got a surprise visitor.

"This child bears my mark..."

I startled at the gunshot-like voice. Anger, not mine, thumped in my chest. At the same time, the dull burning sensation from my chakra marks intensified.

"But it is not the one. This should be it...this should be my priest...but where is the hate? Where is the festering, ugly hate from its abandonment by humanity? Tell me child, where is your depravity, your will for vengeance against humanity?"

It's presence was vile, disgusting. The pure hatred it was radiating paralyzed me.

Bodily possession by an age-old Satanic figure was not a pleasant thing. The spine-freezing voice was only part of it. For the few minutes that it was within me, part of me, picking at my mind, I was wide awake, hyperaware of my inner and outer surroundings.

The entire experience was utterly terrifying.

"Terrifying? No," It chuckled, a dry rattle. "An insignificant mortal such as yourself should be honored to be united with me."

At last, I managed to gather my disjointed thoughts into a single command.

"Get. Out."

"Why should I? Do you know how much energy I expended to get here?"

"Just leave!"

The god- the demon- whatever it was, it completely ignored me.

Instead, it continued to rummage around my mindscape. I could physically feel it rifling through my memories, pulling up various images in chronological order for both of us to see, rewinding my lives like a movie. And I could only lie there helplessly, letting it do as it wished.

We sped past the mundane days of Seiryū Hidaka at an alarming pace, drawing closer and closer to her birth.

"Boring, boring...ah? A brother?" It stopped, rewinding through my numerous memories of Hidan, pausing on those where I could see his face. "Those same eyes! He must be the one...I've been deceived!" The voice snarled. "Why are there two children with my mark? I've expended all my energy on entering the wrong one. Useless child!"

As a punishment, it send a searing wave of white-hot pain through my nervous system. I spasmed, whimpering. In the back of my mind, I finally pieced together what was happening. But before I could hold on to that suspicion, it interrupted me.

"Ah? What, pray tell, is this?"

Gooseflesh blazed a trail down my arms. We've reached Hidaka's nativity...and the finale of my first life.

As we relived my fatal collision, it made a sound of delight. "A death? Few are blessed with their past identities as they cycle through reincarnation...how precious. No wonder why you're unaffected by the coldheartedness of your new kin. But that doesn't change the fact that you're useless to me."

It sent another spark of pain. I choked, convulsing.

We went on to experience my high school graduation, my parents' ceaseless fighting, auditions, trips to China, my first orchestra solo, the soft-eyed boy I shard my first kiss with-

At some point, I began to cry. It wasn't pretty. It was a heart-wrenching, gut-heaving lament. The sight of what I used to be broke something inside, and, unable to stop, I laid there, wrapped in wet, hot sheets, letting lose two-years worth of pent-up emotion.

"Yes, keep crying! Hate me! Hate yourself! Hate this life!" It cackled. Fucking sadist. "Turn to me! Resent human kindness!"

"Fuck you!" I howled.

Then, I did something completely unexpected.

Perhaps, in a moment of absolute rage and despair, my chakra decided to intervene. There was a lot of instinct involved, but somehow, I managed to pool whatever chakra I had left towards my head, where its voice was, and pushed.

"What?" Confused, it sputtered. "Why are you resisting me?"

I didn't respond. I only pushed harder, forcing that syrupy, warm energy towards the voice. I doubt it'll work, but-

It let out a blood-curdling, inhuman scream- abruptly, it was cut off.

My entire body convulsed upwards.

Holy...fuck.

I heard myself panting in the darkness for a few moments before I was, once again, claimed by unconsciousness.


两分钟时后 (Two minutes later)


Nanami frowned as she entered Seiryū Hidaka's suite.

The little heiress was in her usual spot, lying flat in a sea of sheets, a wet towel slung on her forehead. Strands of her crow-colored hair stuck to the towel and her sweat, making her skin appear paler than usual.

Something's wrong.

Stepping briskly towards the bedridden toddler, Nanami knelt. The jōnin brushed blond bangs away from her face as she fell into the familiar routine of a cursory chakra scan, placing a hand over Hidaka's fragile chestbone and-

Flint-colored eyes widened.

"Kuso."

Hidaka had somehow managed to exhaust all of her chakra. Only a measly portion of it remained, circling her Eight Gates. As a result, the infant's heartbeat was alarmingly slow, and her breathing almost nonexistent. If Nanami had waited even a minute to come in, she would've been dead.

Nanami immediately coated her hand with more chakra, pushed it into the infant's chest, and grabbed her tiny heart. As she artificially pumped it with her hand, she placed her mouth over the child's and breathed for her.

After what felt like an eternity, a faint but steady pulse finally returned, and Hidaka began to reciprocate her breaths.

With a loud sigh, Nanami detached herself and returned to a kneeling position. However, she kept a hand hovering over Hidaka's chest, closely monitoring her organs and sending small bursts of chakra to revive her brain activity.

Looks like I'm going to be here for awhile.


. . .


"Is there blood?"

Tsunade didn't even bother looking up from her spot at the bar. The clack of wooden sandals, signaling their owner's approach, faltered at her question.

"...pardon me?"

The buxom woman exhaled, and took another swig of sake. "You've been sitting at table 4 for a good ten minutes, staring at me. Your three servants have been nudging you to come speak to me, and they all have what I'm assuming to be money tucked into their clothes. A woman like you usually sends her underlings for requests like this, so I'm assuming that this is something very important." Tsunade shook her sake bottle, finding it to be disappointingly empty. "You're here to ask me to heal someone dear to you."

"I am," To her credit, the other woman didn't even question how Tsunade observed all that without even turning around. She slid into the stool next to the legendary Sannin, clasping her hands tight.

Tsunade spared her a momentary glance. Civilian. Rich. Late-20s. Worried. "Buy me a drink. And tell me; is there blood?"

"No blood," The civilian did as she requested. Soon, a bottle of the best sake this rundown watering hole had to offer was in front of Tsunade, with a small bonus platter of warm food. "It's my daughter. I had Yugakure's senior field medic examine her a few days ago, and she said that she's developing malignant chakra marks."

A blonde brow rose. Chakra marks? In a civilian? Those cases were rare. Malignant ones were even rarer. Shizune needed this experience.

"I don't know what the normal procedure is, but apparently there's also some huge problems with my daughter's chakra system. The medic said that she couldn't heal her, and that my only chance is you. And since you happened to be in town..." The woman trailed off. "In exchange for your services, I'm willing you to offer you a very handsome sum of money, or-"

Tsunade held up a hand.

"I'll come. We'll talk about payment later."


一天后


"...recovering nicely, though the Chakra Realignment surgery took a toll on her."

A blink. Then, I was awake. Wide, jarringly awake.

Finally.

There was no pain, no evil spirit residing inside me...actually, aside from the biting hunger, I felt great. Huh. I wriggled my fingers and toes experimentally, felt around my belly- nothing was amiss.

With a grunt and a heave, I sat up, kicking off the layers of blankets I was swaddled in. Outside, the veil of night had fallen, and a gust had picked up, stirring up flurries of brittle leaves. A sickle-shaped moon grinned at me. Behind my ricepaper-screen walls, low lamplight illuminated five figures that stood in the hallway.

"Will she be okay?" This voice I recognized. It was Hidan. I squinted. Sure enough, the shortest silhouette was my elder sibling.

"Hai, Hidan-kun. Your imouto will be fine. You should let her rest for the next two weeks, though."

Hidan nodded, his fluffy hair flopping. "Arigatou, Shizune-nee-chan!"

I froze.

Shizune?

Shizune...Shizune...that was a canon character...who was she again? Someone's apprentice...

My mother spoke, derailing my train of thought. "I can't thank you enough, Tsunade-san. You too, Nanami-san, for staying by Hidaka's side."

Oh. The Legendary Sucker, future Godaime Hokage, Slug Princess, and the Shodai Hokage's granddaughter had healed me. No wonder.

Another one of the figures nodded. "We'll monitor her for one more day, if you don't mind. I'll have Shizune teach her a technique to help with the marks when she wakes up. We'll be on our way after that."

"Of course. Stay as long as you'd like."

Hidan yawned, prompting a good-natured shove from one of the women. "Off to bed with you, Hidan. I'll be leaving too, Hiroyo-sama."

"Take care, Nanami-san."

A few seconds later, Hidan and Nanami left, leaving my mother alone with the famed medic-nin and her apprentice.

"You understand what the marks are, Hiroyo-san? We can explain it again if you need it. After all, chakra is con-"

"I am a civilian, but with all due respect, I'm not an idiot, Shizune-san."

"Good." Tsunade interjected. "Consider the option that we proposed earlier, then. Shamisen lessons are a fine idea, but that is even more beneficial for your daughter's future."

This piqued my interest. Shamisen was a string instrument, and on my nightly trips, I sometimes passed by a teahouse where a geisha would be playing one. I though about asking Hiroyo for lessons soon, but I never mustered up enough courage. Besides, I probably wouldn't hold back once I started. It'll be kinda suspicious if I started playing Mendelssohn concertos from memory, wouldn't it?

But what was that thing Tsunade was talking about?

Hiroyo waited a long time before replying. "I'll think about it."


Chapter word count: 1,710

Total: 6,719


Yay! Another chapter. Did this make sense at all?